Sunday, October 19, 2014

Frank writes...Sunday afternoon I was able to run the 36 over to the pit lead once more for the year to finish up needle-chipping the car's side sill. Below is a "before" photo showing the section at the near corner yet to be done. Unfortunately I neglected to take an "after" photo but I'm sure you can imagine what it looks like now. I also chipped the paint off of half of the side sill on this side of the car. Next year I'll try and get more of the car's underbody chipped and painted black, but getting the side sill done will go a long way to making the car look presentable for service next year.

After that I brought the car over to Barn 8 and swapped it with the 308 and 309 so that the 36 will be near the electrical outlets, making it simpler to work on the car over the winter. The 308 and 309 are now at the east end of track 84. I then made my way over to 50th Avenue, where Richard Schauer and Greg Kepka had been working on removing control equipment from the 2000-series CTA "L" cars we acquired last year for parts. These cars, originally CTA 2007-2008, will be scrapped and the spare parts will help keep 2153-2154 operating. Richard showed me the cab signal box from one car, which is historic because it's likely the only extant example of the CTA's very first cab signal system put into service on Lake Street around 1965. Cars 2153-2154 have a later version because the Douglas-Milwaukee line, where they were assigned, didn't get cab signals until about 1969. I joined Joel Ahrendt and Zach Ehlers in helping Richard and Greg move some of this equipment into storage.And I also got to take a look at 2153-2154 in Barn 2, where removal of the CTA stickers and decals is already well underway. These cars should look pretty sharp in green and white.

While we're railfanning around the property, why not stop by the Schmidt Cutoff? Bob Olsen informed me that the tamping on this new piece of track is now done. It looks great!

And we had a request from one of our regular readers for an update on Michigan Electric 28. Jeff Brady was doing touch-up painting on the roof, as seen below left. This shot is taken looking back from the front right corner. The black smoke jack at right is for the car's Peter Smith water heater. Roof work is nearly done; all the car still needs are the rope guard on the rear end and rain gutters. The toilet ventilators were installed just a week ago, completing installation of ventilators on the car. The "lobster trap" at the rear end (below right) is complete, as is installation of the headlight at the front end. Jeff said he was relieved that the roof project on this car, which has stretched six years in all, is finally about done.

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The "Hicks Locomotive and Car Works" banner at the top is taken from original artwork of the company, which was in business from 1897 to 1911. The picture behind it shows the four restored CA&E wood cars at the Museum, starting with #309, which was built by the Hicks Locomotive and Car Works in 1907.

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